Shelf construction

ABSTRACT

A shelf construction having a vertically extending column having at least one article supporting surface rotatably and adjustably supported on the column. The portion of the article supporting surface which is facing the column is joined to a sleeve placed around the former and having an upper bearing and a lower bearing. The article supporting surface is supported by the periphery of at least two wheels carried by the column. The column is provided with a number of diametrically opposed holes. A shaft is securely arranged in at least one of said hole. A wheel is mounted on each end of the shaft immediately adjacent the column which wheels support and carry the sleeve together with the article supporting surface.

I United States Patent 11 1 1111 3,868,916 Ohlson 1 1 Mar. 4, 1975 [54] SHELF CONSTRUCTION 3,187,901 6/1965 Wilson 211/182 X 4 2 1 1 2232.322 10/1222 11:12:? 311/11 2 27, 161 42 Bromma, Sweden FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS [221 July 561,370 10/1932 Germany 108/94 [21] Appl. No.: 375,474

Primary Examiner-Francis K. Zugel [30] Foreign Application priority Data Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Eric Y. Munson July 7, 1972 Sweden 8976/72 [57] ABSTRACT I 1 Cl 3, 21 /1 211/184, A shelf construction having a vertically extending c01- 108/61 umn having at least one article supporting surface ro- [51] I111. CI A47b 49/00 tatably and adjustably supported on the column The FIeId Of Search 94, portion of the article upporting urface which is fag- 248/159, 211/163, 144 ing the column is joined to a sleeve placed around the former and having an upper bearing and a lower bearl l References Clted ing. The article supporting surface is supported by the UNITED STATES PATENTS periphery of at least two wheels carried by the col- 2740237 3/1883 Dunner 108/105 The Column is Provided h a number of 1,470.217 10/1923 Claus 211/144 metrlcally pp holes- A shaft 18 securely arranged M90338 1/1931 Chartoff 211/163 X in at least one of said hole. A wheel is mounted on 2,113.386 4/1938 Schneider 108/103 each end of the shaft immediately adjacent the col- 2,204,502 6/1940 Kr auss 211/163 X umn which wheels support and carry the sleeve to 2,529,780 11/1950 M111er 248/415 X gether i the article supporting surface 2.951.593 9/1960 Luke 108/139 3.158964 11/1964 Bittner 108/105 3 Claims, 9 Drawing Figures PATENTED 41975 SHEET 2 OF 4 4 a f H c b d 4 4 4 5 1 WL a 6 A 5 PATENTEU 4 5 Fig. 4

PATENTED MAR 4 I975 SHEET u or 1 1 SHELF CONSTRUCTION FIELD OF INVENTION The present invention relates to a shelf construction and particularly to shelf constructions of the type having a vertically extending column on which one or more article supporting surfaces are mounted for rotation around the column. Shelf structures of this type can be used for files, folders and the like, and may also be used as article display means and for storing books and the like.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is a known fact that the storage capacity of a shelf construction having circular article support surfaces greatly exceeds the storage capacity of shelf constructions having rectangular support surfaces, where the capacity is measured in stored units per m The disadvantage with shelf constructions having circular supporting surfaces, however, is that the structure must be capable of absorbing considerable loads while permitting ready rotation thereabout of one or a number of article supporting surfaces. Furthermore the vertically extending column must be provided with a strong supporting base surface.

The object of the present invention is to provide a shelf construction of the type having a vertical column and circular supporting surfaces with which substantially eliminates the aforementioned disadvantages. The invention contemplates a shelf construction having a vertically extending column'and at least one article supporting surface arranged to rotate around said column, the portion of the article supporting surface nearest the column being connected to a sleeve surrounding the column and held in position between an upper bearing bushing and a lower bearing bushing the article supporting support surface rests on the peripherey of at least two wheels covered by the column, the column being provided with diametrically opposed holes through which extends a shaft for a pair of wheels journalled to the opposite ends of the shaft immediately ajdacent the column, and which wheels engage the lower bushing to form supports for the sleeve and the supporting surface, said sleeve and said wheels being located adjacent each other.

THE DRAWINGS.

In order that the invention may be readily understood and further features thereof made apparent, a shelf construction according to the invention will now be described with reference to an embodiment thereof illustrated in the accompanying drawing, in which FIG. I shows in perspective a shelf construction having four article supporting surfaces, of which only three are in use.

FIG. 2 is a sectional view of a supporting surface bearing mounted on a vertically extending column.

FIG. 3 is a sectional view of one half of an article supporting surface.

FIG. 4 is a sectional view of a sleeve and the portion of the column passing through the sleeve in connection with a article support surface not shown in the Figure.

FIG. 5 shows the manner in which the column can be assembled when the column comprises a tube and is divided into a number of separate sections.

FIG. 6 is a sectional view taken through the line III- III in FIGS.

FIG. 7 is a sectional view of an embodiment provided with ball bearings.

FIG. 8 shows a portion of the sleeve shown in FIG. 7 in horizontal view, and

FIG. 9 illustrates the principles of the ball bearing arrangement.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS.

The drawing shows a shelf construction standing on a supporting surface I and having a vertically extending column 2, the lower portion of which isjoined to a base 3 by means of screws 2a. The base 3 comprises four arms 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d. The portion of respective arms remote from the column 2 is provided with a supporting member, said supporting member in the illustrated embodiment being in the form of wheels 3a 3d. The arms 3a3d of the illustrated embodiment extend crosswise adjacent the end of the column 2 facing the supporting surface 1 and are arranged to co-act with a supporting member 3, which also constitutes a wheel. As will be seen from FIG. 1, the supporting means 36 is located immediately beneath the lower end of the column 2 and is designed to absorb the main weight of the shelf construction. The wheels 3d are designed to stabilize the shelf construction.

Arranged around the vertically extending column 2 is a number of article supporting surfaces. The shelf construction illustrated in FIG. 1 has four article supporting surfaces 4, 5, 6, 7, of which only three, 4, 5 and 6, are used. It will be understood, however, that any number of article supporting surfaces can be included.

Each supporting surface is arranged to rotatably coact with the column 2 in a manner hereinafter described with reference' to the drawing. FIG. 2 illustrates the article supporting surface 4 of the shelf construction shown in FIG. 1. The portion of the article supporting surface 4 facing the column 2 is connected to a sleeve 4b. The sleeve 4b is arranged around the column and when the column 2 has a circular crosssectional shape the sleeve 4b will also have circular cross-sectional shape, with the inner diameter of the sleeve 4b exceeding the outer diameter of the column 2. The sleeve 4b has an upper bearing 40 and a lower bearing 4d. The article supporting surface 4 is carried on the peripheral surface of at least two wheels joined to the column 2, the wheels being identified in FIG. 2 by the reference numeral 5. The column 2 is provided with a number of diametrically opposed holes 6 preferably arranged in uniform spaced relationship along the whole length of the column 2. Extending through two opposing holes 6 is a shaft 5a, the outer extremities of which support the wheels 5.

The upper and lower bearings 40, 4d of the sleeve 4b preferably have the form of identical bushings, for example nylon bushings. A portion of the bushing 4c and 4d is located between the sleeve 4b and the column 2, while another portion of the bushing 4c and 4d is arranged to extend over the end surface of the sleeve 4b. Thus, each bushing 4c and 4d has an L-shaped cross section. The portion of the lower bushing 4d which extends over the end surface of the sleeve 4b also abuts the periphery of the wheel 5, the wheel 5 thereby supporting the article supporting surface 4. The bushing 40 and 4d are designed to center the article supporting surface 4 in relation to the column 2 with the wheels 5 supporting said article supporting surface, thereby enabling said article support surface 4 to be rotated around the column 2.

The wheels 5 shown in FIG. 2 may be replaced with ball bearings or the like by manufacturing the bushing 4d from a suitable plastic material the wheels or ball bearings 5 need not be coated with material over their peripheral surfaces.

With the illustrated embodiment there is secured to the sleeve 4b as by welding for example, a lattice structure 4a. The lattice structure may be constructed in any manner suitable for the purpose and the structure shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 should only be considered as an example. The portion 4a of the lattice structure 4a remote from the column 2 comprises a rail arrangement which enables files, folders etc. to be suspended therefrom. Thus, the folders can be hung from the undersurface of the article supporting surface 4. With the illustrated embodiment, the article support surface 4 is arranged to carry files 8 and for this purpose there is provided a file support member 9, the construction of which will be described with reference to FIG. 3. The file support member 9 may also be used, of course, as a book-end or the like.

Arranged on the lattice structure 4a is a plastic member whose upper surface forms the actual article supporting surface 4. With the illustrated embodiment, the plastic member comprises a generally flat circular disc which in cross section has a planar surface 4f the portion of which facing the column 2 is U-shaped and indicated by the reference 4 A portion 411 is arranged to extend between the lattice structure 4a and the bushing 4b to hold the plastic member in position. The portion of the plastic member remote from the column 2 is bent around the portion 4a and secures the plastic member about the lattice structure 40. The plastic member has at the region of its outer end remote from the column 2 an extension 41, the free end 4k of which is bent into the form of a hook. The hooked portion 4k is provided with a planar portion 4 l. Arranged around the hooked portion 4k is a plastic lable strip 10. The lable strip 10 may be made of a transparent plastics material and is so arranged that labels can be inserted between the strip 10 and the planar surface 4 l by folding the strip 10 away from its abutment with the hook portion 4k. The strip 10 is also arranged to serve as a handle for rotating the article support surface 4 around the column 2. The lable strip 10 is also provided with a flange 10a extending towards the column 2 and is designed to clamp the flle holder 9 between the lable strip 10 and the plastic element 4i. The flle holder 9 is arranged to extend from the lable strip 10 over the surface 4 and towards the U-shaped portion 4g as shown in FIG. 3 and I.

When the article supporting surface 4 carries tiles 8 or folders 11, the hooked portion 4k may be arranged suitably to extend over the planar surface 4 I in a manner to form a prop or file support means.

The construction shown in FIG. 4 is an improvement on the construction shown in FIG. 2.

It is understood that each article supporting surface is rotatable around the column 2. Around the column 2 there is arranged a sleeve 4b which when the column 2 has a circular cross section and consists of a tube the sleeve 4b will also have circular cross section with an inner sleeve diameter somewhat larger than the outer diameter of the column 2. The sleeve 4b has an upper bearing 40 and a lower bearing 4d. These bearings extend slightly into the space between the sleeve 4b and the column 2. The article supporting surface co-acting with the sleeve 4b is carried on the periphery of at least two wheels 5 connected to the column 2. The wheels 5 co-act with a bearing surface for the lower bearing 4d. The column 2 is provided with a number of diametrically opposed holes 6, preferably arranged in uniform spaced relationship along the whole length of the column 2. Extending through two diametrically opposed holes 6a is a shaft 5a, the extremeties of which support the wheels 5. With the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4, the bearing surface 40 associated with the lower bearing 4d has a flange 41 which extends beyond the periphery of the wheel 5. The bearing surface consists of a ring having a portion 42 extending between the sleeve 4b and the column 2. The portion 42 tapers towards the end surface of the sleeve which simplifies placing of the bearing 4d around the column 2. The portion 42 which is located between the sleeve 4b and the column 2 consists of two wall portions 42a and 42b located adjacent each other. The wall portion 420 abuts the sleeve 4b while the wall portion 42b abuts the column 2. The sleeve 4b abuts the bearing 4d at a portion immediately adjacent the bearing surface 40. When the wheels 5 have the form of ball bearings or the like, the ball bearings are arranged in a sleeve 50. The sleeve 50 is intended to encircle the bearing consisting of a ball bearing 51 and a plate 52 is arranged around the shaft 5a. The plate 52 is arranged to extend towards the outer periphery of the sleeve 50 to enclose the bearing between the sleeve 50 and the plate 52. The sleeve 50 may also suitably be arranged to extend with its axially extending surfaces beyond the ball bearing 51 and to arrange for the plate 52 to be insertable in the sleeve 50. The plate can, to advantage, be made of a plastic material, such as nylon or the like, and serves as a bearing surface between the column 2 and the ball bearing 51. Since the sleeve 4b is mounted in the manner suggested above it is possible to permit a loose fit of the shaft 5a in the ball bearing 51, since the ball bearing 51 and the sleeve 50 associated therewith can not be displaced from co-operation with the shaft 5a owing to the flange 41.

At the upper portion of the sleeve 4b there is located a ring 40 which serves as a bearing and which has a portion 43 extending between the sleeve and the column. The portion 43 tapers inwardly from the end surface of the sleeve 4b to facilitate positioning of said portion on the column 2. The portion 43 consists of two wall portions located adjacent each other and indicated by the reference 43a and 43b and are joined together at the portions remote from the end surface of the sleeve 4b. The portions 43a and 43b are located immediately adjacent each other and serve to guide the sleeve 4b relative to the column 2.

FIG. 5 illustrates a conceivable embodiment in which the column consists of a tube divided into a number of members 2a, 2b. Although the column shown in FIG. 5 has only two sections it will be understood that more than two sections may be used. Each tube section shall be capable of being secured to an adjacent tube section and with the present embodiment this is effected by two arms 21 and 22 which are securely arranged in the tube section 20 and extend into the tube section 2b. By means of a suitable tensioning device 23 the arms can be biassed away from each other into co-action with the inner surface of the tube section 2b. The arms 21 have an angular shape when seen in cross section. as will be seen specifically from FIG. 6. The angular arms may be securely joined to the section 2a by means of welds, as indicated at 21a and 22a. The arms 21 and 22 are biased away from each other into co-action with the inner surface of the tube section 2b by means of the tensioning device 23, which is located immediately adjacent a hole 6. In this way, the tube section 2a is securely attached to the tube section 2b.

The arms 21 and 22 may also be caused to co-act with a planar surface serving as a support surface. This latter support surface is not capable of rotating relative to the column 2, but can, to advantage, serve as a load releaving surface.

FIG. 7 illustrates in side view and in cross section an embodiment in which the bearings 40: and 40d have the form of ball bearings. For this reason the shelf has been provided with a recess which extends around the column 2. Arranged in the recess is a metal strip (FIG. 9), the metal strip 91 being provided with pockets 92 to receive balls 93 along a length corresponding to the periphery of the column 2. The metal strip and the balls 93 may also be positioned in a separate sleeve 94 (FIG. 7) which is arranged to abut the wheels 5 and in this way support the shelf.

The shelf construction 71 is circular in other respects and is cast from a plastic material with upstanding support side walls 73 extending from a bottom surface 73. A groove 74 is arranged in each side wall 72 for a ring or support wall intended for files, folders and the like to prevent the same from being moved to deeply into the shelf. The free end of the bottom surface 73 is designed to retain a labling strip.

The invention is not restricted to the described and illustrated embodiments, but can be modified within the scope of the following claims. Thus, the metal strip provided with pockets 92 for receiving balls 93 may be made from a plastic material or other appropriate material.

I claim:

1. A rotatable shelf and the like comprising a. a vertical stationary column;

b. a wheeled base supporting said column on a floor or similar support;

c. a sleeve surrounding said column;

d. a pair of vertically spaced bearing bushings rotatable about said column supporting the upper and lower ends of said sleeve at a spaced distance from the exterior surface of said column;

e. a pair of wheels mounted on the opposite ends of a shaft extending through said column and engaging the lower one of said bearing bushings to permit rotation of said sleeve about said column; and

f. a shelf member fixed to said sleeve for rotation about said column, extending therefrom in a horizontal direction. said bearing bushings being substantially L-shaped and having an annular slot forming a portion tapering upwardly towards the exterior surface of said column.

2. A rotatable shelf construction according to claim 1, in which the bearing bushing engaging said wheels has a flange extending downwardly around a peripheral portion of the wheels.

3. A rotatable shelf and the like according to claim 1, further comprising a. a disc member resting on said shelf member for supporting articles placed thereon;

b. the portion of said disc facing said column having an inverted U-shaped portion extending above the disc, the leg facing said sleeve abutting against the upper one of said bearing bushings and extending downwardly between said shelf member and said sleeve;

c. the portion of said disc remote from said sleeve having a flange extending downwardly over the edge of the shelf member to clamp said disc thereon;

d. said downwardly extending flange having an outwardly extending flange terminating in a hook portlon;

e. a partition clamped between the outer leg of said inverted U-shaped portion and said flange, and

f. a flexible strip engaging said hook member and an outwardly extending portion of said portion.

* l l l 

1. A rotatable shelf and the like comprising a. a vertical stationary column; b. a wheeled base supporting said column on a floor or similar support; c. a sleeve surrounding said column; d. a pair of vertically spaced bearing bushings rotatable about said column supporting the upper and lower ends of said sleeve at a spaced distance from the exterior surface of said column; e. a pair of wheels mounted on the opposite ends of a shaft extending through said column and engaging the lower one of said bearing bushings to permit rotation of said sleeve about said column; and f. a shelf member fixed to said sleeve for rotation about said column, extending therefrom in a horizontal direction, said bearing bushings being substantially L-shaped and having an annular slot forming a portion tapering upwardly towards the exterior surface of said column.
 2. A rotatable shelf construction according to claim 1, in which the bearing bushing engaging said wheels has a flange extending downwardly around a peripheral portion of the wheels.
 3. A rotatable shelf and the like according to claim 1, further comprising a. a disc member resting on said shelf member for supporting articles placed thereon; b. the portion of said disc facing said column having an inverted U-shaped portion extending above the disc, the leg facing said sleeve abutting against the upper one of said bearing bushings and extending downwardly between said shelf member and said sleeve; c. the portion of said disc remote from said sleeve having a flange extending downwardly over the edge of the shelf member to clamp said disc thereon; d. said downwardly extending flange having an outwardly extending flange terminating in a hook portion; e. a partition clamped between the outer leg of said inverted U-shaped portion and said flange, and f. a flexible strip engaging said hook member and an outwardly extending portion of said portion. 